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Friday, March 14, 2008

I posted before about the Sony XDCAM EX, a really cool, three-chip HD camcorder that records to solid-state memory, which I just can't afford. But I'd really like to get another HD camcorder so I can do a three camera shoot. Sony's HVR-HD1000 looks interesting. Here's the Pros and Cons (from my perspective):

Pros:

1. Relatively inexpensive (about $1,600 right now)2. Records to minitapes. (While recording to solid state memory is appealing, until I have a better way to backup and archive large amounts of material, tapes are an inexpensive and attractive medium. Still, if I get this, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the last tape-based camera I buy.)3. My other cameras are Sonys, so I should be able to figure out the thing and colors probably match better than buying another brand.4. I really like using a shoulder mount camera for some things, and the other two cameras don't really work well that way.5. To the uninitiated, it looks like a "real" camera.

Cons:

1. Single chip, so resolution/color not quite as good as my FX1 (but better than the second camera, so that's a bit of a wash)2. I'm concerned that while it has some manual controls, there's not a lot of them. A single ring on the lens functions as zoom, focus, and exposure, but you have to use the menus to switch.3. Some people say it's seems cheaply built...but I haven't seen one in person yet.